SECURITY: European FMs Reiterate Ukraine Support, Ready For New Russia Measures
The foreign ministers of France, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, and Poland, have issued a statement in Rome reiterating their commitment to “reinforcing the European contribution to NATO” and stating readiness to impose further measures against Russia.
- The group said: “We will continue working together to strengthen our collective security and defence and to reinforce the European contribution to NATO… We reiterate our readiness to step up our pressure on Russia as it continues to refuse serious and credible commitments, including through further sanctions”
- The statement continued: “We are also ready to swiftly adopt new measures, notably in the energy and banking sectors, aimed at undermining Russia’s ability to continue waging its war of aggression. We are determined to keep Russian sovereign assets in our jurisdictions frozen until Russia ceases its aggression and pays for the damage it has caused.”
- On support for Ukraine, the group said: “We remain firmly committed to supporting Ukraine’s economic stability under its IMF programme, ensuring it has sufficient fiscal assistance for 2026 and beyond.”
- The statement comes after a ‘handshake’ agreement between US and Chinese negotiators appears to have decreased the likelihood US President Donald Trump will endorse Senator Lindsay Graham’s (R-SC) Russia sanctions package. The sanctions, if approved, would likely lead to a 500% secondary tariff on China for trading in Russian hydrocarbons.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday: “It’s all in [Trump’s] hands … How strong the sanctions package will be, depends on him. The speed with which decisions are made depends on him.”
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STIR: BLOCK: Sep'25/Dec'25 SOFR Put Spread Spread
- 5,000 SFRU5/SFRZ5 95.68/95.87 put spd spds, 3.0 net/Sep over at 0838:20ET
US DATA: Slightly Lower-Than-Expected Core Goods Prices, Mostly In-Line Services
The slightly soft core CPI reading vs consensus (0.24% M/M vs 0.29% MNI Median, 0.06% prior) came amid an undershoot on core goods prices (and a slightly above but basically in-line core services reading. See table for key components.
- In core goods (0.06% M/M vs 0.13% median, -0.09% prior), used cars (-0.5% vs 0.0% median, -0.7% prior) and apparel (-0.2% vs +0..6% median, 0.4% prior) both were softer than expected. New vehicle inflation was basically the same as March (0.0% vs 0.1% prior).
In core services (0.29% M/M vs 0.27% median, 0.11% prior), OER and Rents were very slightly higher than expected as noted earlier. Offsetting that were lodging (-0.1% vs 0.2% median, though rebounding from -3.5% prior) and airfares (-2.8% vs -2.0% median, also up from -5.3% prior).
FOREX: Initial Dip Lower for the USD Index Immediately Reverses Following US CPI
- Dollar index very briefly through session lows on the slightly softer-than-expected inflation figures from the US, most notable with USDJPY dipping from 148.15 to 147.87 following the release. However, the positive influence for equity indices, an in line supercore figure and the optimistic tone for the greenback on Monday appears to be superseding FX sentiment here. USDJPY pops straight back to a high of 148.27 before stabilising at pre-data levels.
